


the sapphire & the sea

by Ffwydriad



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Gen, Jester Lavorre-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:55:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25897774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ffwydriad/pseuds/Ffwydriad
Summary: When Jester Lavorre is eight years old, her father returns from the sea to whisk her and her mother away to the island he now rules.Oh, and it's full of pirates. That's kind of important.
Relationships: Jester Lavorre & Marion Lavorre | Ruby of the Sea, Jester Lavorre & The Traveler, The Gentleman | Babenon Dosal & Jester Lavorre
Comments: 9
Kudos: 98
Collections: Fandom Trumps Hate 2020





	the sapphire & the sea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Prim_the_Amazing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prim_the_Amazing/gifts).



> for the prompt: Jester being raised by both her parents as a mob (well, in this case pirate) princess for FTH 2020.

When Jester Lavorre is eight years old, her father returns from the sea. 

She’s been hearing stories about him since she was even littler than she was now from her momma, and they’re all so romantic and dreamy, about how he loved her, and how he left to prove himself worthy of her, even though he didn’t need to because momma already loved him so much, and how she hasn’t seen him since and will always love him no matter how long it takes. 

She’s not expecting him to be blue. 

That’s what makes him stand out, at first. He’s talking with Lianna, who runs the front desk and really hates Jester even though she’s only ever trying to lighten up her day, geez. She’s never met anyone else who was blue, before - most people are pink or brown and very boring, but her momma’s red and she’s met some other red people too, and some green, but she’s always been the only blue in the whole chateau. 

He’s asking after momma, that much is obvious, and he looks a little disheartened when he’s told she’s busy. 

Jester’s starting to get bored of messing with the magician from her spot in the rafters - he’s stopped paying attention to her, which is just rude, she’s only trying to make his show more interesting - so she turns her focus onto the mysterious blue man who’s sitting down at one of the tables and tries to figure out what his deal is. 

He doesn’t look like most of the people who come calling on her momma. Well, he might be a noble, but he doesn’t really look like it. It takes her a little bit to pick up that the clothing he wears is that of a captain, which means he’s a sailor. They get quite a few sailors and they’re always so interesting, and they tend not to be rude and annoying and boring like the nobles, and down here in the lobby she can sometimes even talk to them and get them to tell her stories without them turning her into Lianna who always yells at her for being downstairs. 

She offers a little prayer to the Traveller to be really super sneaky so that Lianna doesn’t catch her, and slips out from where she’s been hiding back stage and makes her way to the table where the blue sailor man is sitting. 

It takes him a little bit to notice that she’s sitting in the chair beside him, and when he does, he almost jumps. She laughs a little, and ducks out of the way so that no one else can see her. 

“I don’t think you’re supposed to be here,” he tells her, in a hushed whisper. 

“I can be anywhere as long as no one sees me,” she says. “You’re blue.”

He looks at her with a small, tight lipped smile. “I am,” he says. “So are you.”

“My name’s Jester,” she says. “What’s your name?”

“I’m, ah, between names, at the moment,” he tells her. “Jester is a very nice name.”

“Thanks! I picked it out myself. The Traveler says that I’m great at naming things.” She pauses. “I could name you, if you wanted.”

“I may take you up on that, Jester.”

Lianna comes over to talk to him, and Jester takes the time to vanish back to where she’d been hiding. 

* * *

She doesn’t actually get to overhear any of what her momma and the sailor talk about, but she sees them when the door opens. They stand in the entrance, and momma has a look on her face that isn’t like any she has when she usually says goodbye to people who come and visit her, because she looks so sad. 

“Stay,” she says, pressing a hand to his cheek, and he holds it, and momma’s never done that before either, which means this guy has to be really special.

“I have a week,” he says, pressing his hand over hers. “After that-”

“I know,” she says, and her hand falls to her side. 

Out of all the people her momma sees, there’s only one she ever talks about to Jester, only one she really cares about as much as she cares about Jester - Babenon du Sal. So, even though she doesn’t say anything, when she wishes Jester good night and sweet dreams, it’s obvious the blue guy is him. 

It strikes her as kind of funny, that she never realized her father would be blue, too.

* * *

The biggest problem with being on a ship, Jester decides, is that all the sailors are actually trying to stop her from doing things, which isn’t fun at all. There’s people _everywhere_ , and they don’t want her doing any fun stuff like balancing on the railings or climbing up the ropes or firing the cannons.

Well, they do tell her that if they come across anything that would be fun to shoot - because apparently just shooting cannons out into the water is boring, which Jester kind of understands but still wants to see because it has to make a giant splash - that they’ll let her help. She’s not sure if they’re just saying that though. She hopes they do let her fire off the cannons. They look fun.

“We should sneak up to the crow’s nest,” the Traveler whispers in her ear, sitting down beside her as she works on her painting.

“I want to but they won’t let me,” Jester whines. “Everyone’s always watching and there isn’t any way to hide on the ropes. They’re so worried about falling or whatever.” 

“Well, they don’t need to worry about that, because I have your back. Promise.” He starts sketching a very ridiculous mustache onto one of the faces. 

“I know you do, but they don’t,” Jester points out. 

“Well, we can just be invisible, then,” he says.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been invisible before,” Jester says. “Yeah, let’s do this!”

The Traveler offers her a wide grin and, dipping a finger into one of her paints, boops her on the nose.

He’s right - it’s easy enough, once they’re invisible. She’s careful, making sure not to run into any of the people on deck so that they don’t realize she’s invisible. From there, it’s easy enough to scamper up the ropes. It’s a little slow, because they’re meant to be climbed by people way bigger, but she’s always been fast at climbing, from all the ways she’d get into the ceiling beams or up onto the roof of the Chateau. The invisibility doesn’t drop until she’s well into the crow’s nest.

They both become visible, giggling, as they sit in the tiny bucket. It sways back and forth more than the rest of the ship, but they're able to grip on tightly to the rim and peer out over the edge. This high up, you can see forever. The ocean is big and flat and empty, and it's so beautiful and weird, she really wants to paint it. She can see little things on the horizon too, and she wonders if they’re other ships, or islands, or like, really big fish. She hopes they’re really big fish.

It takes a while for anyone to see her, but as soon as they do, she can hear a bunch of people calling out her name. Ugh.

“Jester!” Momma calls out, voice high and breathless. Jester lifts herself up to get a good view of the deck below. It’s basically the first time her mother has left the main cabin since they got on board the ship. “Jester, get down from there! Someone - get her down!”

Jester looks over at the Traveler, who frowns at their interruption. “You said you had my back,” she says, a grin beginning to spread across her face. “What if I fell?”

His eyes spark as they meet hers, and a matching grin crosses his face. “Jester,” he says, “I would never let you fall.”

She climbs onto the edge of the crows nest, to a side that’s mostly free of ropes, and jumps.

Freefall is incredible. She’s never done this before, although the height’s about that of the ceiling in the main room of the Chateau. The air rushes around her, blowing her hair every way, and she knows that she should be scared, but she isn’t, not at all. 

She doesn’t start to slow until she’s right about the level with the cabins, and then she floats down, gently, landing softly on the deck. Based on the faces of everyone around her, as she steps out of the air, it’s her best trick yet.

“Marion,” Babenon says, voice hoarse, “I think your daughter’s magic.”

“Yes,” Momma says, quiet, “I’m starting to see that.”

* * *

“The Plank King has returned!” Someone calls out, and within moments the cry is echoing across the island. Jester peeks out over the edges, watching the people all starting to gather, curiously. 

“You didn’t tell me you were a king,” she says. “If you’re a king, and you’re my dad, does that mean I’m a princess?”

Babenon gives her a wide, somewhat uncertain smile. “It doesn’t exactly work like that, Jester-”

“I mean, she has a point, boss,” Sal says. “I’d say she’s a princess.”

“Of course you’re a princess,” Marian says, leaning down to scoop Jester up in her arms. “You’d be a princess even if he wasn’t your father, my little princess.”

“Do you have a castle?” Jester asks, squirming over closer to Babenon. “Does it have towers, and unicorns, and dungeons?”

“Ah, well,” Babenon says. “I’m king of the pirates, not a typical king, so instead of a castle, we have a secret mountain hideout?”

Jester pauses, thinking this over. “I also accept secret mountain hideouts,” she says. “No unicorns?”

“I wonder how hard it would be to find unicorns?” Harley mutters.

“No unicorns,” Babenon says, with a wide, tight clenched smile. “Marian, let’s get you inside, yes?”

“Yes,” she says, letting Jester tumble back to the ground, keeping a hand tight on his arm, the other firmly grasping Jester and keeping her close. 

They walk through the streets of Darktow, up to the edge of the mountain. Above, Jester can see the winding stone path to the menacing entrance that looks like it’s out of a storybook, but they don’t go up that way, staying on the ground, until they hit a dead end.

Babenon presses a hand into the rock, careful, muttering what sure sounds like magic words, and pushes forward, opening the secret door. 

Jester rushes inside, looking at the actual secret door they just went through - they have some hidden passageways in the Chateau, but they weren’t meant to be hidden passageways, and the doors were boringly obvious when they existed. This was a real secret door, though, and it was magic, too!

Marian stepped in behind her, her tight grip lessening and her breathing becoming less strained as they entered into the caves. She and Babenon both followed Jester, bounding up the stone stairs to the halls of the Plank King.

“I haven’t done much,” Babenon said, “other than cleaning out my predecessor’s belongings. So, you’re welcome to choose any of the rooms you want. Both of you.”

“Well then I’m gonna find the room with the best bed and the best view,” Jester says. “We’re really high up so I bet you can see forever.”

“Please tell me the windows have something to keep people falling out of them,” Marian says. 

“Some of them have bars?” Babenon offers. “I’ll look into getting glass. Very soon. Right now.”

* * *

“The girl needs to learn her place,” Captain Reeve says, standing cross-armed in the main audience chamber of the Plank King. “You can’t just let her cause chaos across the island however she sees fit. My ship could have sunk! She’s lucky I didn’t-”

“You didn’t what?” the Plank King asks, his face stern and full of an icy venom that has the room around him go dead still. 

“She’s a liability,” the captain continues. “I’m not the only one with complaints for all the shit she’s done.”

“I’m well aware of everything that Jester has been up to. If and how I choose to reprimand her is the business of no one but my wife and I. Not. You. I do not take kindly to those who decide to showcase their meager amount of power by threatening a child. My child.”

“And no one looks kindly towards a leader who cannot control even a single child. His child.”

“Is that the way the rest of my court thinks?” the Plank King asks, rising from his throne to look around the gathered audience. 

The room stays deathly silent for a long moment. 

“Actually, I kind of like the way my ship got renamed, it’s fun,” one person pipes up. 

“Yeah, and the fire from the faerie dragon were easy enough to handle, and she’s also the one who calmed it down.”

“The cannons thing was really all of our faults, if you think about it.”

“Sure, she can be a handle, but her antics really brighten up the place.”

“I mean, either she’ll grow out of it or she’ll grow into the biggest menace in the Lucidian, and I’m looking forward to seeing that.”

“No one else seems to think her behavior is grounds for challenging,” the Plank King continues, walking forward. “But you’ll find I don’t back down from challenges, once offered.”

Captain Reeve steps back, slightly. “I wasn’t-”

Babenon du Sal grips his hand around the captain’s throat. The man is slightly taller than him, and with a larger build, but the force of the grip has him well beneath eye level, clawing desperately at the hand.

“Tradition dictates that the heads of any challenger decorate the walk,” he continues. “No one’s been brave enough to challenge me, yet, but you’re more than welcome to be the first. You might mistake my attempts for unity and cooperation to be weakness. It isn’t.”

The captain is pleading, now, and so the Plank King lets him go, dropping him to the floor. There is the imprint of a hand around his neck, an acid burn.

“For the next year, you are exiled from Darktow. Upon your return, you may prove your worth and that you have not betrayed our trust. If any of the Revelry find you wanting in your actions, while exiled, they can deal with you as they see fit. Understood?”

“I understand,” he says, slowly standing up from the floor of the cave. He leaves, hand touching the acid burn around his neck.

“That was so cool,” Jester says, from where she’s sat herself on the throne. 

“Jester. Room. Now.”

“But - it’s - I-” she flounders for a few moments before climbing off the throne. “I mean technically you only said that I was supposed to stay in the caves, technically, so it’s not like I-”

“Now.”

“Fine,” she says, scampering off down the halls, and the Plank King takes his throne once more. 

“Does anyone else have a complaint they wish to raise against me?” he asks. 

“Uh, no one’s getting punished for the cannons, right?”

* * *

The highest point inside the mountain that Jester can get to is a little tiny lookout room that overlooks the whole island. The tunnels to get there are mazelike, and it’s a tight fit, but when she sits at the top it’s a cozy little hideaway just for her and the Traveler.

“Hey, Traveler?” Jester asks, sitting with her sketchbook, the two of them drawing. “Do you like Darktow?”

He looks up from what he’s been drawing. “Yeah,” he says. “It was better to play pranks on the people in the Chateau but there’s a lot more we can do here.”

“That’s good,” she says. “I was worried you were gonna leave.”

“What? No?” He sits up suddenly, looking at her. “Why would you think that?”

“I mean, you started hanging out with me because I was alone, and I’m not alone anymore,” she says. “I thought you might-”

“We said best friends forever,” the Traveler says. “I’m not just gonna leave because there’s other people around. Not unless you want me to.”

“No! You’re my bestest friend in the whole multiverse,” Jester says. “I just wanted to make sure that you weren’t bored or something.”

“Who could be bored when you’re around?” he asks. “Or on a pirate island? They have cannons.”

“They’re not going to let us get near the cannons again any time soon,” Jester says, frowning.

“Ooh,” the Traveler says. “Do you want to learn how to make yourself look like someone else?”

Her eyes go wide. “Yeah!” she grins, widely. “I think I figured out how to aim them too so they shouldn’t get nearly as mad, anyways.” 

She holds her hand out, and he takes it, and they go running through the halls. 

* * *

“Midnight!” Jester calls out,jumping up with a wide grin. “Another round goes to Jester.” She leans over the table and slides the decent pile of coins towards her. 

“Are you serious?” a man at the other end of the table says, standing up. “She clearly shifted the dice. She wasn’t even subtle with it, and you’re just going to let her take the gold?”

A raucous laugh fills the tavern around him. “Buddy, if you want to mess with her, go right ahead. Your funeral.”

“You think I’m scared of some twelve year old child?”

“I’m thirteen!” Jester corrects. “My birthday was last week and everything and it was kind of a big deal so I’m surprised you didn’t notice.” She hops up onto the table. 

“You think you can get away from me?” the man growls towards her, pushing the chairs next to him aside. 

“I’m not trying to get away from you, silly,” she says, hopping over the various drinks to get closer. “You’re not nearly as scary as you think. I’m pretty sure I’m scarier. Cower.”

The man instantly drops down to his knees, pulling away from her as if in fear. She takes another few steps forward until she’s standing right on the edge of the table, looking down at him, and offers up a wide, beaming smile. 

“Can we go back to playing the game, or are you going to keep being mean?” she asks. “Cause, well, if you keep being mean to me then we’re going to have to get my dad involved and that’s not fun for anyone.”

The spell on him fades, but the look of realization and fear on the man’s face grows. “You’re - you’re -”

“Yep!” she says. “Sooo, are we good?”

“We’re - we’re good.”

“Awesome.” She heads back to her seat, scooping up the rest of her winnings. “A round of drinks to everyone who wasn’t being an asshole!” she declares, and with a whooping cheer, the tavern around them returns to normal. 

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re terrifying, cherie?” the young man sitting beside her asks, as he stands up to get a drink.

“Aw, thanks,” she says. “Can you get me another glass of milk?”

* * *

It’s two days out from Darktow, when Jester finally gets caught. It isn’t her fault, though, hiding on a ship is really boring and since no one was noticing her she basically had to see how far she could push it. 

“The Plank King is going to kill us,” is basically the first words that come out of her finder’s mouth, well, that and some surprised cursing. 

“He’s not going to kill you,” Jester says, plopping down on one of the crates. “He really doesn’t like doing the whole killing people thing, and the note I left was pretty clear that I was being sneaky and he knows how sneaky I can be, and besides, he actually really likes Captain Paij so-”

“I need to tell the Captain, we could probably turn back-”

“Cai,” Jester drawls out, flopping back. “We’re friends, right?”

“You’re horrible, cherie, but, yes, we’re friends.”

“Then you know that I can take care of myself! You’ve been doing the whole pirate thing since you were like twelve, and I’m twenty, and I’m not even going to be doing piratey stuff, I just want to do a little bit of travelling and really, if you think about it, this is kind of one of the better options I could have gone with.”

“Those are all very good points, Jester, but it doesn’t change the fact that when your dad finds out we’re the ones who snuck you off Darktow, he’s going to kill us. 

“He doesn’t have to know it was you,” Jester says. “I mean, it’s not like my dad would be talking to you, no offense, Cai, and if you cover for me, then no one else has to know I’m here, and if they don’t know, then they can’t tell him, and everything is fine. Besides, is this really any worse than any of the other stuff I’ve pulled you into.”

Cai frowns. “You are a terror. I am starting to worry about inflicting you on the rest of the world.”

“Well, the rest of the world really needs to learn to lighten up, and, well, that’s what I’m here for.” She hops up, and hangs an arm around Cai’s shoulders. “You bet I could get up to the crow’s nest without anyone noticing?”

“If you’re going to include me in on this scheme, can you at least try not to get yourself caught?”

* * *

They’re sitting in the tavern after the both harrowing and exhilarating fight they had with the giant sea snake monster. The atmosphere around them is lively, and both Beau and Fjord are a few trosts in - no Baumbachs, obviously. 

“You guys don’t sound like you’re from the Empire,” Beau says. 

“We’re from the Coast,” Fjord says. “We met up in Port Zoon.”

“Oh, I’m not from the Coast,” Jester says. “I mean, technically I am, technically, because I was born in Nicodranas, but we went to go live with my dad when I was pretty young and this is my first time back since.”

“Oh?” Fjord asks. 

“Yeah, he left before I was born but he came back and basically he’d become king of this island out in the middle of the ocean so we moved there to be with him.”

“Wait, wait, wait, your dad is a king?” Beau asks. “Are you a princess? Are you super rich?”

“I mean, yeah, but I kind of ran away without telling anyone so that I could go explore the world and I thought I took a lot of money but things are actually really expensive so most of it's gone,” Jester tells them. 

“Do you think he sent anyone after you? To bring you back?” Fjord asks.

“I left them a note, and besides, they know I have the Traveler with me so it should totally be fine,” she says. “How about you, Beau? Where are you from?”

“Oh, you know, around. I’ve been doing a lot of traveling,” she says. “You guys aren’t half bad at the whole fighting thing. I’m cool with sticking together for however long you’re in Trostenwald.”

“We could be roommates!” Jester exclaims. “I’ve never had a roommate before - oh this is going to be so much fun!”

* * *

“We should cut off all their heads and stick them on pikes around the gate,” Jester says, as they sit in the upper floors of the Sour Nest.

The rest of the Mighty Nein - bar Beau, who’s otherwise disposed - stare at her. 

“My dad threatens people with that all the time,” she explains, curling the ends of her hair between her fingers. “It’s a really good way to make sure no one ever fucks with you. And I don’t want anyone trying to be like them.”

“Yeah,” Fjord says. “Yeah, it could work.”

“With Yasha still out of it, that leaves the two of you to do it,” Caleb says. “Are you up to it?”

“I’ll help,” Nott says. “Fjord can wimp out if he wants to.”

“It’s not any worse than killing people,” Jester says. “And we’re all fine with that when it’s bad guys, so,” she doesn’t move to stand up. “He never actually does it. The head thing. He just says he’d do it.”

“I mean, they’re already dead, so I don’t think they really care. It’s not like we were gonna bury them anyways,” Nott says. “Sorry, Caduceus.”

“There are many ways to deal with the dead,” Caduceus says. “Leaving them out to the will of Melora is one.”

“Okay,” Jester says. “Heads on pikes. We got this.”

* * *

“Yasha! Yasha, hold my ankles,” Jester says, putting a hand around her wrist and pulling her towards the prow. “We’re gonna change the name!”

“Okay,” Yasha says, wedging herself up against the railing. “Is this good?”

“Yep!” Jester says, using her grip on the bars to slowly bend herself down, until the name is right by her face. With a careful grip on her paints and brush, she slowly starts to add on to the name.

“You seem...very good at boats,” Yasha says.

“I’ve actually done a lot of sailing! Well, technically I was never the one doing the sailing, technically, and I only ever learned on ships in harbor, but I think it still counts. You kind of have to get used to boats when you live in the middle of the ocean.”

“Did you ever get used to it? Living in the middle of the ocean?”

“Kind of? I mean, i got used to it but it was still always really cool to wake up and be like it’s the ocean,” she says. “Can we move to the left? Your other left.”

“It’s very strange,” Yasha says, staring out at the waves and the night. “I like it, though.”

“The thing I’m the best at with ships is cannons, but I don’t think we have any of those,” Jester adds. “Cannons are awesome, I bet Nott would love them. The next ship we steal should totally have cannons.” She adds a final, curling touch. “You can pull me up now.”

“Jester!” Beau calls out. “You have a disguise kit, yeah?”

“Yes! Are you gonna let me disguise you?” she calls back. “Thanks for the help, Yasha,” she adds with a small smile, before running off back to the other side of the ship.

* * *

“I’m afraid drinking will have to wait,” Avantika says, gathering the Mighty Nein towards her. “It is custom that we bring new crewmembers to meet with the Plank King, so you all will be accompanying me.”

“Do we need to bring any presents or anything to the Plank King when we meet him?” Nott asks.

“I’m bringing our tribute,” Avantika tells them. “The rest, well, he is easier to deal with than most of his predecessors.

The walk to the Throne Roost is long, and treacherous, the path carving up the mountain, but even as the rain pours down the stone doesn’t get wet, covered by the overhang, and the torches light the way even as night settles over Darktow.

The Plank King sits upon his throne. “Avantika,” he says, as they enter. “I hear you-” and then he stops mid sentence, as his eyes fall upon the group. “Jester.”

“Hi Poppa,” Jester says, giving a little wave.

“What the fuck,” Beau says.

The Mighty Nein shoot worried glances back and forth between Jester, the Plank King, and Avantika, who’s mouth hangs open in shock. Her eyes stay fixated on Jester. 

“Your mother’s been worried sick,” he says. “Sit - sit down, I get the feeling I need the entire story - unless you need to have any of them dealt with-”

There’s a brief pause, and at once, the Mighty Nein all chorus out a mix of “Arrest Avantika.”

“I mean, if you guys think it’s a good idea,” Jester says.

“Sir, I-” Avantika starts. “I didn’t-” she stares around them. “You’re - what?”

“Take her into custody,” the Plank King says, snapping his fingers. “Keep an eye on the rest of her crew, I can’t imagine they’ll react well. You’re alright?” he adds, looking at Jester, worried. “Was she mistreating you?”

“Oh, no, she was just trying to release this ancient evil god who was going to destroy the world or whatever, and that isn’t, you know, great.”

“Right,” he says. “I think I need the full story on that. And a drink. Probably several. Come, sit, eat. I imagine your mother will be rushing in here any minute now.” He leans back. “This really isn’t how I imagined this night would go. It is good to see you again, Jester.”

“I’m sorry I never sent any letters,” Jester says. “It was kind of hard to figure out how to send mail to pirates, and then I got a new spell that lets me send messages from like really far away but I couldn’t think about what to say because it only lets you talk a little bit and I was worried you were mad at me for running away, and-”

“Jester!” Marian calls out, rushing into the room, and sweeping her daughter up into a big hug. 

“You know,” Beau mutters, “I kind of assumed we’d end up meeting her parents, but I thought it would be, like, a royal palace and fancy and shit. Not. You know.”

“Ja,” Caleb whispers back, “I think it is safe to say none of us were expecting this.”

* * *

“So,” Fjord says. “This is the part where you tell us everything you know about Uk’otoa.” The rest of the Mighty Nein repeat the name in whispers in the background. 

“You know,” Avantika says, leaning back on the wooden bench that makes up her bed in the cell, “looking back, I’m surprised I never put it together. Blue tieflings are only so common.”

“To be fair I didn’t realize you were part of the Revelry until you said so,” Jester says, “and I know, like, basically everyone who spent any time in Darktow.”

“They can’t keep me here forever,” Avantika says. “You know, I really wanted to work together. But instead, it seems I’ll have to track you down and retrieve your cloven crystal.”

Caleb sticks his head in. “I have cracked the journal code,” he says. “I do not think we need her.”

“I guess we don’t need her, then,” Fjord says. 

“You really think that he would want one of his most loyal servants locked in a cell?” Avantika asks. “We’re on the same side here, Fjord.”

“You know, I don’t really care what he wants,” Fjord says, “but I want you to stay in this cell for a good long time.”

Avantika is silent, giving a long, icy stare towards the group of them.

“Well, I guess I’m gonna go tell my dad that we’re done here,” Jester says. “I’m sure he’ll know the best thing to do with her.” She turns, and gives Avantika a wide, sharp-toothed grin, before letting the door close behind them. 

* * *

Marian sees them off. She hugs Jester tightly for several long minutes.

“I am glad you found such good friends,” she says. “You seem happy, Jester.”

“I am,” she says. “I’m sorry that I didn’t say goodbye. And that I haven’t been sending you messages. I really did mean to.”

“I know you did,” Marian says. “For the rest of you - if I find out that any harm has come to my daughter-” she pauses. “Well, I know you all will protect her, won’t you?”

“Somehow, that’s more intimidating than the whole list of threats we got from the Plank King,” Fjord says. 

“Kinda hot though,” Beau adds, and Marian laughs.

The Plank King himself sees them off from the docks, surrounded by what seems to be half of Darktow, as they board onto the Balleater and head out towards their next stop, the Diver’s Grave.

“You know,” Caduceus says, “I think that went really well.”

“Aw, man, I really should have shown off Fluffernutter,” Jester says. “Oh well, maybe next time.”

* * *

“We could always do the Peace negotiations in Darktow,” 

“Darktow?” Da’leth asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Jester says. “I mean, my dad’s in charge and I bet I could totally convince him that it’s okay. Probably. Maybe.” 

Da’leth is quiet, for a few moments, as he processes that statement. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” he says.

In the end, both the Dynasty and the Empire decide against meeting on Darktow. They stick with the boat idea, though.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm @ malaismere on tumblr and i'm always up to talk about jester being a pirate or anything else. stay safe and don't forget to love eachother!


End file.
